Help wanted; inquire within.

From time to time, we all need help. It might be help with homework, help managing an intimately personal challenge, or help understanding another's point of view. But the first step to getting help is to ask for it. And asking for help requires us -- above all else -- to inquire within.

John Donne wrote in a meditation almost 400 years ago "No man is an island." Even as the Pilgrims were crossing the Atlantic in the Mayflower and writing their famous compact, embarking together on the biggest risk of their lives, Donne understood that none of us stands alone. We are all interconnected. Our lives may seem very individual. Certainly we live in times where the emphasis is on our separateness. But we are not as different as we believe. Donne's word remind us that "...any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankinde." In other words, if I need help with something, probably a whole lot of other people do too.

It is more important now than I can ever remember in my life that we inquire within. If we can shine a light on that inquiry, we must recognize the fundamental similarities we share. We all experience fear. We all experience doubt and discomfort. We must all see that what diminishes one of us diminishes all of us.

We all need help. Have no fear. Inquire within. Recognize your connection with all humanity.